


It's Who You Know

by HookedonCS



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 03:09:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2213559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HookedonCS/pseuds/HookedonCS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr prompt: meeting at a party whilst drunk au</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Who You Know

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I'd try to stretch my writing skills and practice with the au list.

Too many beers, she surmised, because she was feeling a little bit more than tipsy. Emma Swan wanted to blame it on those and not think about how many shots she had down in between all those beers.

What time was it? She hadn’t even thought to bring her cellphone in with her. No, that was a lie. She had thought completely against it. It was so much easier to ignore their phone calls when said phone was out of earshot.

The party being thrown by the queen of the school, Regina Mills, was living up to all the hype. She thought she’d seen everyone in the newly crowned senior class here this night. From her seat on the couch’s armrest, she even spied a few of the graduating class. Yes, that was just how legendary the always popular queen was in their school.

It had to be after midnight. Which meant that it had to be past her curfew. But, hey, the first day of summer only came around once a year. Parties like this were a rarity in the small and sleepy town. Fewer when it came to invitations offered to her. She blamed it on her loner status. Which was pretty fine by her. Social functions were just one sure way she would cut loose and wild, finding herself in some trouble that would disappoint or frustrate her foster parents.

Emma shook her head, trying to clear away the haziness that was a thick cloud in her brain. The thrumming base of the music pumping through the room was just another positive point on trying to get out of here. The crowded room full of bodies hanging over every stitch of furniture was another sickening quality to it. She wouldn’t consider herself claustrophobic, but the atmosphere was having an adverse effect on her tonight.

Emma shut her eyes, bringing the nearly empty beer bottle to her lips once again. God, eighteen was just around the corner, she thought with an inner smile. Her birthday meant the emancipation she craved for while she would still need to sneak the alcohol that wouldn’t be legal to her for years yet. Oh, the trials of an orphaned girl…

The party was still in full swing, but she was more than ready to get out of there. Standing up while simultaneously dropping the insignificant bottle to the carpeted floor right beside her, she took her first step on unsteady legs.

She felt as if her world was spinning like a… merry-go-round. Sounded pretty good to her. It could have been the twisting and turning of a ninety mile an hour rollercoaster after the night she had just had. Trying to control the stumbling over her own feet and all those crowded around her, she began her slow journey to finding the closest exit out of the huge house.

She blamed the tumble- the one that sent her embarrassingly head first into at least two bodies- on the people sitting foolishly and precariously on her path out of there.

She heard the harsh exhale of breath at the same time a pair of arms lifted her, keeping her from falling flat on her face. Instead, she landed slightly against the hard chest that went with those arms.

“Em… Emma?”

Bracing herself by placing her hands on his arms, Emma looked up to see who had caught her.

Killian Jones had a look on his face that was a mixture of worry and relief. If she had to stumble over someone, she could have thought of plenty of people she’d rather have had it been. She didn’t know much about him. She tended to stay to herself at times, and he tended to do the same. All she knew was that he seemed to have his own story and secret life. For the school year that she’d shared a few classes with him, learning anything more had never been a priority.

“What are you doing?”

Emma took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. Pushing away from him, she looked from him to his friend, Robin, who had almost been the recipient to her accidental trip.

Killian stepped back, moving away from her. His stare turned into a frown, eyebrows knitting as he watched her closely.

“How much have you had to drink?” he asked her, the frown deepening with every passing second.

“She smells like she brought a case and then chose not to share,” Robin added. “Jesus, Emma.”

Emma rolled her eyes at him, and was happy to see him dismiss himself.

With a middle finger to his back, she called, “Forget you, Robin.”

“Emma?”

She was quick- perhaps too quick, as she felt the protest of her throbbing head- to turn back to Killian.

“I’m going home.”

“And how, if you don’t mind my asking, are you planning on getting there?” the apparent boy scout, Killian Jones, had the nerve to ask her.

Emma stood up straight, blinking her eyes into focus. She really wasn’t at all that drunk. It was her surroundings that were magnifying the feelings of lightheadedness and dizziness. Patting down her pockets, she finally hit gold in the left back one. She pulled out her car keys and dangled them in front of him.

“No way.” Killian’s disapproval was instant. She didn’t know if it was her alcohol consumption or if he had just been that quick, but her keys left her fingers and were now palmed in his hand.

Her scowl of indignant surprise didn’t even faze him, as he watched her with certain boredom. 

“What are you doing?” Emma concentrated fiercely on that fist that was holding her property. It was only when she was sure she was steady enough that she struck her hand out at his. It was to no avail. Killian had timed her move well. Or maybe it hadn’t been that difficult at all, taking in her condition at the moment.

“Hey, give those back!”

“You are in no condition to drive.” Killian grabbed a fistful of her shirt in his free hand.

“What are you doing?” Emma squealed, stumbling back as she tried to get away from him.

He held on tight. “I’m going to take you home.” His arm came to wrap around her body, pulling her close against him.

“I didn’t ask for a chauffeur,” she muttered, letting him alleviate some of task it was to walk. “You think I’m drunk, but I’m not.”

“What are you then, Emma?”

She looked up at him. “In a good mood.”

That frown returned. Or had it ever left?

“You’re stinking drunk. I’ll get you home. Where did you park?”

Emma groaned at just the thought alone. “About a block and a half away from here.”

Killian’s chin lifted in question. “Can you make it or do you want me to carry you?”

“Is that your line, trying to get your hands on me?” Emma shook her head. “I can make it.”

****

She’d made it about a block. But it was more than likely the tightening of her shoes, making her feet ache more than she could take. At least that was the excuse she gave herself.

“I can’t believe you carried me to my car.” She was a little bit more than embarrassed, sitting on the passenger side of her own car.

Killian only gave a mere shrug. “I knew you weren’t going to make it.”

Emma smirked up at him, refusing to argue about what brought her to the state of needing to be carried in his arms.

“How are you going to get home?” she asked instead, changing the subject.

“I’m going to walk.”

“Walk?”

“Start walking,” he said with another shrug. “Robin will come and get me.”

“Did you want me to wait with you?” she asked softly.

Killian looked past her, his gaze falling on the house they were parked in front of. She had told him to park there, hoping her foster parents wouldn’t hear her pull up.

“They’re probably waiting for you,” Killian reminded her.

“I don’t care,” Emma muttered, not wanting to even think about those people in the house. “I’m not worried about them.”

An eyebrow raised in question as he looked back at her. “You’re not worried about me, are you?”

Emma stared right back at him. “Not worried. Just a little more interested.”

Killian was quick to laugh. “Since when are you interested in me?”

“Since now.” She moved then, happy that the headache wasn’t as prominent as just twenty minutes ago. Throwing her arms around his neck, she smiled at she planted a soft kiss to his lips.

Killian’s hands felt like steel cuffs around her wrists, shackling her and pulling her arms down off of him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Her eyes narrowed down on him. “I was thanking you for everything you’ve done for me.”

There was a sudden silence in the car as they sat there staring at one another.

“You don’t even like me,” he finally reminded her.

Emma slid slowly back away from him, back to her own side of the car.

“I don’t know enough about you to not like you,” she muttered. “But what I do know is that you came to my rescue tonight.”

“When you tried to convince me that you were fine to get yourself home your own self."

She smirked up at him again. “Which only proves what the consummate Boy Scout you are?” Her head quirked to the side, looking at him in total confusion. “So you don’t want to kiss me good night?”

Killian was slow to lean back against the car door, eyeing her cautiously.

“When I kiss you-“

_“When?” _Even in her drunken haze, she had caught that.__

“When or if,” he said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. “I’d like to know that it was consensual _and _will be remembered by the next day.” His smile reached his eyes. “You’re a little bit too drunk for my taste, Emma.”__

She ran her hands through her hair, trying not to be fazed by his turndown. With a nod of her head, she said, “If you’re not even going to kiss me then I’m going in.” She gave him a tiny smile. “Good night, Killian.”

“Emma?”

She paused with her hand on the door handle and she looked back at him.

“Do you want to… _if _you remember this tomorrow, Emma…”__

She shook her head, unable to follow his ramblings. “Spit it out, Killian.”

“Go out with me?” he asked. His fingers came up to cover his mouth just as his tongue nervously ran over them. “Do you want to catch a movie or something? With me? Together. _If _you remember this tomorrow.”__

“Mm.” Emma unlocked her door and pressed on the handle, taking a moment to think about it.

" _If _I remember- because there is the possibility that I won’t- I’ll let you know. It’d be an interesting start to the summer to say the least. If you don’t hear from me then that means your brief kiss left no affect on me.”__

“And the fact that the alcohol did,” Killian pointed out.

Emma shrugged. “I guess you have another point against you.” She slowly moved out of the car, still reeling from a possible hangover. “Good luck.”

He leaned over so that he could see her standing outside. “Same to you.”

Emma smiled her small smile and turned around to head for the house.

“Hey!”

She turned back to see he was still staring at her. “What?”

“You’re going to want to remember this tomorrow. So sober up.”

“Bye, Killian.” Emma turned around and aimed for making it inside again.

He was right for the second time. Yeah, she was going to want to remember this night.


End file.
